As an event planner committed to sustainability, you are probably doing all you can to make your events better for the longevity of the environment. You’re probably working with venues, caterers, and florists who are working to reduce carbon emissions and eliminate waste.
On-site sustainability is one thing, but it’s your duty as event planner to work toward off-site sustainability as well. One major area this includes is attendee hotels. When considering hotels to partner with or recommend, it is important to prioritize hotels that are as committed to sustainability as you are.
Hotel sustainability can look like a variety of things. Most obvious is guest offerings—at Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa, for instance, each guest receives a plastic-free aluminum water bottle upon check in. This is a common practice for hotels committed to sustainability, and often there are refillable water bottle stations throughout the hotel. Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa also converts any heat that is produced by air conditioning into heat for the hotel’s swimming pools. They also house a full-service business center where groups can print, make copies, or produce banners and posters to help reduce the need for shipping, further helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the event.
More often, sustainable efforts fall behind the scenes, such as in the catering they provide. Fairmont hotels, for example, have a Pollinator Partnership, in which they’ve established “bee hotels” across the globe. Marriott Bonvoy Hotel Paso del Norte, Autograph Collection sources mushrooms from Full Circle Mushroom, a local, Southern New Mexico-based farm that produces fresh, sustainable, and pesticide-free mushrooms that are in season year-round. The hotel’s dining serves these mushrooms, offering fresh dining experiences that support the local community.
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa features a 3,000 square-foot hydroponic garden. Each week, the former tennis court-turned-lettuce farm produces 400 to 600 pounds of lettuce, microgreens, and herbs that are used for events and in each of the property’s on-site restaurants. Likewise, The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver features a hydroponic garden (though this is in the hotel lobby, not behind the scenes) which grows fresh herbs and microgreens used in its on-site restaurants and event menus. Additionally, an on-site apiary produces honey that is used in several signature dishes.
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa features a 3,000 square-foot hydroponic garden that was once a tennis court. Photo courtesy James Korenchen Public Relations
Boston Marriott Long Wharf reduces food waste in meetings and events with the help of an ORCA food digester. The hotel places all uneaten food into the aerobic digester which utilizes a natural biological process to officially break down food, providing a one-stop solution to minimizing waste and saving the carbon emissions generated by garbage trucks.
There are other chances for hotels to improve sustainability, though. Hospitality Management System MEWS notes, “There are so many opportunities to improve energy, water, and waste efficiency in hotels but making choices around these elements aren’t the only common practices. Other common practices for hotels include making operational changes by using utility benchmarking and temperature adjustments, as well as other technical updates like high-efficiency water fixtures or LED lighting.”
Every aspect of how the hotel runs can be held to the standard of sustainability. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, for example, uses non-toxic cleaning supplies, and they source collateral and signage from recycled materials. Many of their hotels utilize energy-efficient LED lighting in guestrooms, corridors, and public spaces; have faucets, shower heads and toilets that utilize low flow water systems to help conserve water usage; utilize large, refillable shampoo, conditioner and shower gel amenities by Atelier Bloem, eliminating the disposal of small plastic bottles.
Hotel Paso del Norte, Autograph Collection sources mushrooms from Full Circle Mushroom, a local, Southern New Mexico-based farm that produces fresh, sustainable, and pesticide-free mushrooms that are in season year-round. These mushrooms are used in the hotel's dining offerings. Photo courtesy Hotel Paso del Norte, Autograph Collection
They’ve also partnered with Clean the World to recycle small disposable shampoo, conditioner and shower gel bottles where they’re still used. To date, Kimpton properties have diverted or recycled nearly 30,000 lbs of waste, reduced their carbon footprint by 18,100 kgCO2e, and saved 97,300 gallons of water.
Kimpton has even removed the use of plastic straws at all restaurants and bars to minimize the chemicals released into the environment from plastic straws. They also pour sustainable or environmentally conscious wine during their evening wine hour at all our properties as part of their “Wines that Care” program.
As you can see, there are hotels who are committed to doing the work and lowering carbon emissions, both in the ways they serve guests and in the way they run their business, creating sustainable lodging experiences. By partnering with these kinds of hotels, you can ensure your event will do less damage, helping to steer events in the right direction of zero carbon emissions and zero waste, moving the industry toward true sustainability.
Cover photo: Grand Hyatt Kauai. Photo courtesy James Korenchen Public Relations
